Racing shoe



Allg'.` 10, 1937. R, MAYER 2,089,615

RACING SHOE Filed Aug. 10, 1934 lPatented Aug. 10, 1937 UNITE@ S'i'i QATENT @FFME Application August 10,

1934, Serial No. 739,200

In Germany August 15, 1933 i Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in racing shoes, more particularly to a new design of a spike for racing shoes and a method for mounting said spike to the racing shoe.

Ordinarily, racing shoe spikes consist of round spikes of conical configuration with the base of the cone adjacent to the sole and projecting perpendicularly therefrom. Spikes having flat shafts and bent tips have also been used. The former configuration of the spikes causes a considerable running resistance which is intended to be overcome by the latter configuration. A careful observation of the motion of the foot when contacting the ground and leaving it reveals that the sole of the foot gradually rolls from the heel over the articulations of the toes. Conical spikes projecting perpendcularly from the sole are vertically driven into the ground and must thereafter carry out a revolving motion around the point at which they are mounted to the sole, whereby the longitudinal axis of the spikes is inclined as compared with its original position; when the foot rolls over the toes just before and when the foot is lifted from the ground, the spikes move backward, push away and tear up a quantity of soil and are thereafter pulled out of the ground. This movement of the spikes through the ground causes a great resistance which must be overcome by the labor of the runner as long as spikes of flat or round conguration, as known up to date, are used.

It is the object of this invention to fully overcome the above described shortcomings by providing a flat shafted racing shoe spike having the shape of a flat dagger, the front edge of the flat spike pointing toward the tip of the shoe being straight and perpendicular to the sole of the shoe, the edge pointing rearward with respect to the running direction being in its lower part so curved as to form a point with the straight front edge, this curved part of the rear edge being ground like a knife. The point of a spike having such a configuration moves along the rear edge of the cut made by the spike when the spike is removed from the ground, i. e., just before and while the foot is being lifted up.

The most generally used method of mounting the spikes to the soles consists in fixing the spike to small thin metal plates which are arranged between the sole proper and the inner sole of the shoe. With such a mounting method, the area between the spikes is comparatively small, and the stability of the runner is considerably impaired. One has tried mounting the spikes symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the soles on large plates extending over the whole width of the soles. Such a construction is heavy and, therefore, not desirable.

According to the present invention, the spike is mounted near the edge of a plate which is fastened near its center in between the soles, for example, by a rivet, whereby the plate acts in a manner similar to that of a two-armed 1ever as is obvious from Fig. 8 of the drawing which will be described later. The part of the plate adjacent to the seam of the sole can be serrated, the projections being held by the seam.

Objects of my invention not yet stated in the foregoing will be set forth in the claims and the description relating to the drawing which, by way of illustration, shows what I now consider to be a preferred embodiment of my invention.

in the drawing:

Figs. l to 3 diagrammatically show the motion and action of a spike of the old design. Figs. 4 to 6 diagrammatically show the motion and action of a spike according to my invention.

Fig. 7 shows a racing shoe spike according to my invention.

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view of a spike and holding plate according to my invention, the section being taken along line 8 8 on Fig. 9.

Fig. 9 is a top view of a spike holding plate according to my invention.

Fig. 10 is a part longitudinal section through a racing shoe with spikes attached according t0 my invention.

Fig. 11 is a bottom View of a sole of a racing shoe with spikes attached according to my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing by characters of reference, the reference number I of Figs. 1 to 3 designates a shoespike of the old design mounted to the sole 2 of a racing shoe. 40 Figs. 2 and 3 show the movement of spike I through the soil just lbefore the foot is lifted from the ground. 3 indicates the space created by the pushing action of spike I. The arrow 4 indicates the direction of the movement of the runner.

Figs. 4 to 6 diagrammatically show the same movement as is shown in Figs. 1 to 3 but with a spike according to my invention. The front edge 5 of spike I' is straight, whereas the lower part 6 50 of the rear edge is curved. It is obvious that the shape of the space 3' left in the ground after spike l is removed more fully conforms with the shape of spike i than does the shape of the space 3 made by spike I, whichspace is quite dif-ferent from the shape of the spike itself.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a spike according to my invention. At "its lower rear side the flat spike has a curvature 6 and is ground to a sharp knife edge along this curvature. The configuration of the curvature issuch that during the movement shown Figs. 4.- to 6 the point vof thespike slidesalong the rear li'ne, that is, the curved line at the right of the cut made by the Spike'. n l l, l

1Figs. 8 and Q show a spike l mounted near the edge of a holding plate l; the latter is held in between the maiii sole and the inner sole by a rivet 8 l whih is located near the middle of thel plate. Plate 'l thus acts as a two-arm lever having rivet 8 as fulcrum. Plate 'l is serrated along the side which is adjacent to the seam 9 of the sole, the projections l being sewn into the seam.

Fig. 10 shows how the spikes I' are mounted to the sole of the racing shoe by means of the plates i which are arranged between the outer sole 2 and the inner sole l l of the shoe. Y

Fig. 11 is a View of the sole equipped with spikes according to my invention with a part of the outer sole cutaway. Since the same reference characters are used on this ligure for indicating like parts as on all the other iigures, Fig. 11 is self-explanatory. Attention is called to the fact f that plates i extend nearly to the centerline I l of the sole and that rivets B are approximately in the center of the plates, whereas the spikes l are mounted near that edge of the plate which is near the seam 9.

While I believe the above described embodiments-of my invention to be preferred embodiments, I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of design and construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with Aa spike for racing. shoes a spike-holder comprising a plate having an edge, holding means connected to and located substantially in the middle of said plate and being adapted to hold said plate to the shoesole, said spike being connected to said plate adjacent to said edge. Y

2; A spike for racing shoes having, in combination with a spike-holder comprising a plate having an edge, holding means connected to and located substantially in the middle of said plate and being adapted to hold said plate to the shoesole, said spike being connected to said plate adjacent to said edge, said spike having a straight edge which is substantially perpendicular with respect to said holder.

3. In a sole for racing shoes, a seam, a plateshaped holder having a serrated edge which is located interstitially with respect to said seam, a spike attached to said holder, and a fastening means adapted to connect said holder and said sole.

4. In a sole for racing shoes, a seam, a plateshaped holder having a notched edge which is located interstitially with respect to said seam, a spike attached to said holder nearY the notched edge of said holder, and a fastening means arranged in substantially the center of said holder and adapted to connect said holder with said sole.

5. A racing shoe having a spike, said spike having a at configuration, a straight edge facing the forward end of the shoe, and a curved edge facing towards the rear of the shoe.

6. A racing shoe havinga sole, a spike, said spike having a flat configuration, a straight edge facing the forward end of the shoe and being substantially perpendicular to said sole, and a curved lower part on the edge facing towards the rear of the shoe.

'7. A racing shoe having a spike, said spike having a iiat conguration, a straight edge facing the the forward end-of the shoe, and a curved lower part on the edge facing towards the rear of the shoe, said curved lower part being ground to aY knife-edge.

R. MAYER.r 

